


The Tiny Prince

by KaytiKitty



Series: Sanders Sides One-Shots [43]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Gen, Hero Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Kinda, Roman gets shrunk during a battle, Shrinking, Supervillain Deceit Sanders, Supervillains, Villain Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, ambiguous ending, hurt/ little comfort, things work out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:13:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21878686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaytiKitty/pseuds/KaytiKitty
Summary: The Prince and Anxiety are battling in Logic's lab when a new invention goes haywire. None of Virgil's villainous plans involved have a shrunk hero on his hands.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders
Series: Sanders Sides One-Shots [43]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1355647
Comments: 14
Kudos: 171





	The Tiny Prince

**Author's Note:**

> This is a secret Santa for @shadowwhisperer152 on Tumblr! 
> 
> I'm not sure how much I'm confident in this being what you wanted but I hope you enjoy it anyway! Happy Holidays!

It was supposed to be a normal mission. For a few seconds it was then, as usual, Virgil's luck ran thin and things went bad. Really bad. 

They were fighting one second in Logic's lab, The Dark Sides trying to steal one of the many valuable machines. The Prince had been towering above the villain, sword poised for the battle and red sparkles dancing around the room as his magic awaited his commands. Vigil had been crouched low, a feral growl emitting from deep in his throat, shadows swarming and folding over him like waves. 

Virgil had several sore spots where his opponent had landed blows with his magic. The Prince had lines of crimson dripping off his chin from where Vigil had struck with just a touch too much vigor. Virgil had been focused so intently on the way The Prince was posed, injured but not through, that he had missed it when the first bolt of magic struck out. 

Vigil had barely had enough time to throw his hand out, shadows bursting forward to retaliate. His back hit the machine. Hard. He cried out against his will, arching away from the point of contact. He threw his head back and growled, the sound filling the room and echoing back, deafening those not used to the intensity. His eyes snapped open from being clenched in pain, the violet glow cut through the shadows, making just enough light for The Prince to see the fangs bared in his direction. 

"That hurt, Princess Sparkles," Virgil ground out, his voice still distorted. His shadows whipped away from their victim to slither up his body, building and growing in his hands, ready to be thrown at their next target, ready to slash and suffocate and hurt. 

The Prince made an, overdramatic, offended noise. "How dare you act so vile to my magic! She's a beauty, a sparkling, butt kicking, beauty!" 

Virgil had only enough time to give him an unimpressed eye roll before the next burst of sparkles flew towards him, the tip of The Prince's sword directing their path. Virgil let an animalistic grin light up his face as he threw both hands to the side, walls of shadows thrown forward and swallowing all in their path. The sparkling magic grew closer and closer and Virgil only gave The Prince a smug look before he clapped his hands. 

The walls of shadows closed in just as quick as Virgil's hands. The Prince let out a muffled yelp of concern as he was enveloped. It wasn't the first time the hero had found himself ensnared within the shadows and while it felt incredibly wrong and held him still it didn't hurt. He knew that it could, he could feel the razor sharp desire for blood lurking in the tendrils of darkness. 

Virgil smirked in satisfaction as he turned to go collect the device he came for. He stopped a moment before he heard it, had felt something change in the shadows, a thrill of sorts. Then he heard a screech, metal separating from metal. He turned just in time to see one of the platforms sliding downwards, the machine on top wobbling. 

His eyes widened as he threw his hand out and forced his connection with the shadows to open. He brought his fingers in, forming a fist and watched with dawning horror as the machine toppled over. He yanked harshly at his bond, pulling the shadows away from The Prince. The mass of shadows jerked towards him taking the hero with it. The machine crashed into the ground with a clang. The building trembled at the force of the explosion of navy blue dust that coated the entire half of the room. 

The shadows withered around Virgil, anticipation of seeing if they succeeded in killing the hero. Seeing if Virgil had failed at controlling them. The dust cleared and there was nothing. No sign of The Prince, as if he hadn't existed. 

Oxygen seemed to shun Virgil, pulling away, leaving his lungs fumbling and desperate. He had disintegrated The Prince. He had killed somebody. His vision darkened into a kaleidoscope of red and black, unable to see the world just seeing the empty room. 

Panic overtook his heartbeat and the stuttering rhythm sounded like that of a dying man. He could feel the shadows wildly darting about beside him, dancing joyously at their scheme. Virgil had killed somebody, Virgil was evil, Virgil was dark and wrong and bad. 

Virgil probably would have curled up in defeat and laid in the fetal position until the other heroes came if it wasn't for the shadow that suddenly struck out. Confusion fired through Virgil's brain first, who could they be attacking, panic came next, who were they trying to kill? 

His head slowly rose to see who was caught in the crossfire. He saw no one but then a wispy tendril struck out, a high pitched shriek cut through the air, and rose up. The shadow was encircling a small figure, a small figure dressed in shades of red. 

Virgil could only blink. The shadows twisted in delight and Virgil felt his mind go numb with horror as the shadow holding The Prince squeezed his delicate frame. An agonized moan left The Prince's mouth. Virgil's hand shot up and he called the shadows back, demanding it to be gentle. Resistance met his command, feeding off the hopeless feeling Virgil had felt moments ago. 

"Bring him to me. Now." Virgil's voice echoed throughout the entire building, his eyes blazing a deep purple. The shadows trembled and shivered and collapsed against each other, hurrying to fade away from consciousness. The shadow holding The Prince yeeted him towards where Virgil sat before disappearing. 

Virgil tried to catch him with a gentle hand, but there was only so much he could do to revert the force of a flying object…. A flying person. The Prince groaned out upon his entire body slapping hard against Virgil's palm. He opened his eyes and they widened in terror before snapping closed once more. 

Virgil didn't know what to say, how did he ask if his enemy was okay? Especially since his enemy was clearly not okay! Virgil could see the bruises lining the Prince's body from where his shirt rode up. Dark purple formations decorating the abdomen of his enemy's body. The Prince's eyes reopened and a vicious glare met with Virgil's awkward gaze. 

"You won't break me." The hero spoke with a loud, confident voice. It didn't seem to shrink along with the rest of him, pity. It barely hid the quiver of fear. 

"I bet I could if I wanted," Virgil responded absently. This he was used to, trading threats and taunts. Mocking and joking. It wasn't as fun when he felt the small man shiver in his hands. 

"Logic and Love Bug will rescue me!" The Prince declared, striking a dramatic pose. Virgil felt the sudden urge to drop the hero but instantly thought better of it. It wouldn't do to harm the fragile man, or cause him more anxiety. 

Virgil cursed loudly and stood up in one fluid motion. The Prince screamed, a very feminine sound, and latched onto Virgil's finger. Virgil winced, he supposed it would be scary to suddenly be launched twenty feet above the ground. "I'm not going to drop you." 

The Prince scoffed. "As if I'll believe you, Villain!" Virgil gave him a warning glare. He had to make a decision. He could leave the hero here to wait for his friends to help him, but the possibilities of The Prince getting hurt by falling or getting squished were definitely a terrifying thought. He would most certainly be blamed for the death if it were to happen. 

Or he took the tiny hero with him. He would still be charged with kidnapping and blamed for any misfortune, but that was expected. Virgil was the villain. He signed up to be the bad guy, he could handle being called a kidnapper and a thief but not a murderer.

Virgil bit his lip before giving The Prince an apologetic glance. "I'm going to put you in my bag, I'm going to be very careful and will not hurt you." Virgil made himself very clear, hoping to ease the panic he seen on his enemies face. 

The Prince tensed up, protesting instantly, accusing Virgil of doing horrible things to him and being a truly evil person. Not even considered human, according to The Prince. That should be Virgil's tagline at all the villain get togethers. 

He set Roman inside his duffle bag, where he had planned to stash the stolen device. He held out his hand and watched as the shadows sprung forward to bend to his will. He stepped out onto the pitch black platform and muttered out a warning before the platform dropped to the ground like an elevator. He heard a tiny screech, heavily muffled, from inside the bag. 

When Virgil got back to the hideout he realized he had beaten the other two back. They had probably gotten carried away in distracting the other two heroes and had caused some damage. Virgil set his bag down in the kitchen, on the makeshift dining table. They had a real one at one point, when Virgil was a young kid and had yet to become a supervillain, but then the heroes had raided their house three times in a row and they gave up on real furniture. 

Virgil opened the bag and peeked in. He jumped back as something set struck him in the eyes. "Did you just spit at me?" He commanded. His voice made the walls shake and the tiny figure went deathly pale. His little act of rebellion didn't seem nearly as satisfying with an evil giant looming over him, speaking in a voice so loud it could be felt in his bones. 

The Prince opened his mouth to stutter through an angry retort but instead could only manage to whimper out, "I'm sorry." Virgil glanced down in shock at those words. The Prince didn't apologize, ever. He locked onto the trembling figure, pale as a sheet of paper and curled into a ball. 

Virgil took a deep breath and willed his voice back to normal. "I get that you're angry and probably terrified, but you don't get to go spitting at me. I'm trying to help you." 

The Prince opened his mouth, a harsh look on his face. Virgil braced for the biting insults or bitter blows but instead The Prince closed his mouth and nodded once. 

Virgil sighed, resisting the urge to taunt him into a conversation. He folded and pressed the bag down so The Prince could walk out on his own. He went over to their camping stove and began to fiddle with the old piece of trash, hoping he could have ramen noodles ready by the time the older two got home. 

"Do you like Ramen Noodles?" Virgil asked. The small hero didn't respond. Virgil turned to view the man looking around the room before shifting a suspicious glance to Virgil. "We have chicken or beef?" Virgil offered holding up the two options. The hero still didn't respond, just glared harder. Virgil sighed. 

"Okay. I'm going to change out of this superhero outfit schtick. I'll take off my mask too. Feel free to keep yours on or whatever, I don't have any doll clothes handy." Virgil watched for any reaction to his words but only got a small flinch when Virgil mention the word doll. A sinking feeling crashed over him when he realized what that implied. 

He swallowed past the lump in his throat, searching for something to say. "I'm not going to keep you here, Princey. Once we figure out how to bring you back to normal you can arrest us or whatever but until then my only goal is to keep you from getting even more hurt because of me." 

The Prince opened his mouth a few times, only to remain silent. Virgil nodded once, it was the response he suspected. Even though he had poured all the sincerity into those words they wouldn't put a dent in the heroes doubt, Virgil was the villain. 

Virgil stripped the black spandex suit from his body and started to bandage the fresh cuts. A shadow appeared from his wall, reaching forward, wanting to touch the wounds. Virgil allowed the coolness spread across his skin, burning like ice against his tender tissue. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, absorbing the cold touch and allowing it to skin into his skin and deep into his bones. The chill was comforting in a sadistic way. 

He opened his eyes and looked in the mirror. His eyes were glowing a very dark purple, almost black, through the small holes of his mask. Virgil ripped the mask away and tossed it across the room, never removing his eyes from their reflection in the mirror. Eventually they settled into a dull brown and he felt his canine teeth separate from the shadow influence and become totally human again. 

The shadow that was examining the injuries suddenly perked up and Virgil felt curiosity on the other end of the connection. The villain's eyes widened as he remembered the tiny man left alone on the table and thought of all the trouble he could have gotten into. 

Virgil ran into the room he had left him to see the small hero fiddling with the camping stove. Confused, Virgil just watched, not wanting to interrupt. The hero finally jumped back with small satisfied noise. Virgil couldn't help the grin on his face, it was really cute how the tiny the hero was. He knew that it was anything but cute to The Prince. 

The door opened with a loud slam. Remus came in, lugging Dee over his shoulder. The half-snake appeared to be passed out. Remus was whistling the Death March as he strolled into the kitchen. Virgil was close to panicking, he honestly would have already been panicking if Dee was awake but since Dee was not available it left the youngest villain to act as the oldest. 

"What happened?" Virgil was pleased with the way they came out, the lesser amount of trembling than usual. Remus locked eyes on the small hero, who had backed into a corner and tried to hide in the shadows. Virgil got an uncomfortable chill at the sight of a shadow against The Prince's skin. 

"He got frustrated. Let's just say Love Bug won't be lying about anything for awhile." Remus hadn't taken his eyes off The Prince. A vicious smile. "It appears little Princey didn't do so well in his battle either." 

The Prince puffed up like an angered cat and Virgil had to hide his snickers. At one point The Prince would have been intimidating with that move, but now… 

Remus smirked too, a dangerous glint crossed his eyes. Virgil sobered quickly. None of them liked the heroes, after all who gave them the right to act as if they were above the other powered folk just because their powers were acceptable? None of them liked the heroes but most of them didn't want them hurt. 

"Hey, Octo. Take him to you room and sit with him, yeah? I'll make dinner and bring it up to you." Virgil placed a hand on Remus' shoulder in a way that was both soft and stern. Remus glanced at The Prince one more time before sneering. 

"Yeah, whatever. Good luck getting his royal highness to eat ramen noodles. Roman was always too picky to be poor," Remus held venom in his tone, pure, jealous rage. 

The Prince went tense before deflating. "Just go off Remus, we don't want to be bothered by your atrocity." There was no heat to the words and Remus must have realized this as well because he didn't return fire or launch the hero out of the kitchen with his tentacles. He did turn with an icy glare and a snarl. The Prince couldn't help but stumble back as Remus made a threatening promise. 

"Watch your mouth, Roman. I know a quick way to a tall building and something tells me you don't want to know it." 

Virgil shifted awkwardly in place, not understanding what was going on but understanding that he shouldn't get involved. When Remus left the room, with a low growl and one last glare, Virgil let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. The Prince turned to him, looking as if he would speak but then he startled and the emotions changed from terrified to mortified. 

"Why are you half naked?" 

Virgil refused to look away from where he was making plates of ramen noodles for the four current residents of the house. His Black Veil Brides tank top was covered by his large purple jacket, that Remus had hand stitched him four years ago. He had not looked up from the floor since he had made the mistake of emerging topless. 

The Prince had thankfully chosen not to make any comments since then. Virgil moved the large plate over to the table where the hero had sat down and curled his knees up to his chest. Virgil carefully set the plate down and the small mound of noodles that had been stacked in the middle shifted. Virgil winced at what turned out to be a sea of noodles bigger than The Prince himself. 

"Here ya go, I don't have any small plates or anything so I hope we can make this work," Virgil awkwardly said. The Prince looked up and Virgil felt the urge to look away from the vulnerable sight of tear tracks leaking from under his mask. 

"How long will you keep me? What are your real plans for me?" The Prince asked. He crawled towards the plate, focusing his attention on the food, directly not looking at Virgil. 

Virgil didn't groan, well he didn't mean to groan. "I told you, we're only keeping you until I'm certain you won't get crushed to death by someone stepping on you." Virgil ignored the way The Prince flinched at the thought. "Seriously, Tiny Royal, you're not at risk around me." 

The Prince looked up. "You're a villain! I know better than to believe you. You planned to keep me as a pet! Or ransom me! Or… or… or sell me to the highest bidder!" The Prince rose to his feet to poison an accusing finger at Virgil. 

"I mean, yes, I am a villain. No, I am not going to keep you, as a pet or a hostage, and definitively not going to let any other villains get their hands on you." 

The Prince scowled and turned away. "Why wouldn't you?" He stomped angrily onto the plate and a noodle jumped to the floor. "I know how you are! You enjoy causing chaos and hurting people! You are evil!" 

Virgil didn't even attempt to hide the disdain from his face as he hissed lowly. The shadows jumped from the wall, leaping towards Virgil and begging to be unleashed on The Prince. "Maybe because you're vulnerable and scared and in danger. Maybe because I've been there before, Princy, and I never want anyone to be left alone in that position. Even if they are a jerk like you." 

Virgil turned as Roman spluttered out a few attempts at words alternating between offended and shocked. Virgil grabbed two of the three remaining plates and took them up to Dee and Remus. He didn't once turn back to look at The Prince. 

It isn't until hours later that Virgil decides to go downstairs. He was expecting The Prince to have attempted to escape and watched his steps very carefully all the way to the kitchen. When he entered the kitchen he was surprised to see the small person curled up on the tabletop. 

An eye peeked up at him and the whole body tensed. "I'm sorry about earlier! I didn't mean to make you mad! I won't speak ill of you again, you've been only kind in this situation and you could have easily killed me," Roman eyed the twisting and turning shadows that kept to the edge of the room, "at any point." 

Virgil frowned. "Have they been up this whole time?" He raised his hand to open their connection. The Prince took a quick step back and nodded quickly. A shadow jumped out to wrap around Virgil's wrist. A quick twist and a tug slightly to tight and Virgil felt the shadow dig into his skin. He gritted his teeth and forced himself deeper into the shadow's thoughts. 

A quick flash of images. The Prince being whipped into a wall, dangled off the edge of a building, being slowly suffocated by a wispy tendril of black smoke that wrapped around his face. Virgil pulled back and put all his authority into banishing the ideas. "Don't worry, Princey, they won't bother you." He shook his hand once and the shadow evaporated, leaving the bloody marks on his wrist visible. "They like torturing me more than anyone else." 

Virgil meant it to be a joke. Any of the other villains would take it as a joke. The Prince did not get the joke. He was staring at the cut with a bleak fascination in his eyes. It reminded Virgil of Remus. "What, Majestic Miniature? Never seen anyone have a power redress?" 

The Prince was silent for a moment and then he looked away and shuffled his feet. "Only Remus. His tentacles used to scare me though so I never cared, just told him to get rid of them." Virgil glanced over to the sink, he could feel the guilt in those words though they were said nonchalantly. He walked over to wash the wound with the tap water and let The Prince elaborate if he wanted. "They still hurt him?" 

Virgil frowned and glanced down at his own wound, similar to the ones Remus received during battles. "When he lets them go. He has to control them pretty much at all times, which is why he doesn't use them to fight that much." He pressed a wet cloth to his wrist and turned to face the hero. "Your powers don't fight back?" 

The Prince shook his head and went to speak but was cut off. "Of course not, not the perfect Roman. His powers are as sublime as he is, they could never be bad." Virgil turned to see Remus leaning on the door frame. He looked extremely upset. "Look at the faultless Prince now, so helpless." 

Remus stalked forward, intent on scooping Roman up. Virgil stepped forward to stop him, he promised he wouldn't let anything happen to The Prince and Remus could be volatile at the best of times. He made it there a second after Remus and reached out a fraction too late. 

Roman shouted as Remus grabbed him around his torso, his finger and thumb the only thing to support him. Remus quickly brought up his other hand to rest Roman's feet on his palm. "Still so flawless." With that Remus moves both his hands and let Roman drop. Virgil screamed at the same time Roman did, both in the midst of panic. Remus caught Roman before he could splat against the table. 

Both Roman and Virgil were breathing heavy. Virgil's eyes glowed and when he spoke his voice echoed with a warning, causing the shadows to twist anxiously where they hid. "Remus." Remus looked up, a confused smirk on his face. 

"What, we're just having fun, Virgil. We always used to tease each other as kids," Remus said. Then he shot a suspicious glare to The Prince. "You didn't think I'd actually drop you, right?" 

The Prince was shaking from adrenaline and Virgil was waiting for the word to snatch him from Remus and rush him to safety. "I did Remus." The Prince didn't sound accusatory or angry. He said it simply. "I thought you were still mad and so you were getting revenge. I know, now that's not what you meant but-" The Prince was cut off. 

"But I need to verbalize better. Blah, blah, blah. We get it, I'm an unpredictable mess of a human. I came down for ice cream." Remus still held The Prince between two fingers, as if he was unaware of the terror it was causing him, and Virgil. 

"Remus, please. Don't hold me like this," The Prince sounded as close to begging as Virgil thought possible. He was desperately trying to grab at Remus' skin to find a safety hold. Remus instantly drew his hand out of the freezer, forgetting his quest for ice cream. He placed his hand under his cargo. 

"You're still scared of heights, huh?" Remus teased. The Prince kept his eyes closed but shook his head. 

"I'm not scared of anything!" Virgil wanted to facepalm at the statement. Remus would certainly take that as a challenge. Sure enough Remus' eyes brightened and he grinned. Virgil barely had time to cover his ears before the feminine scream pierced the air as The Prince was launched into the air. 

Virgil snatched him out of the air and his him in his shirt pocket. He gave a warning hiss to Remus who just cocked his head in confusion. 

"Do you think I could eat him? Ooh, better yet, what if I become a real giant!" He turned to face Dee, who had just entered and already looked annoyed. "I could go around and destroy buildings! Take whatever I wanted! I could finally figure out what human flesh tastes like!" 

The Prince slid down a bit further into Virgil's pocket and Virgil curled a hand protectively around him. "I could pop them into my mouth like popcorn! They'd be crunchy because of the bones but they'd double as a drink because of the blood! Oh, I bet it would be so satisfying." 

Remus babbled on as Dee lightly banged his head into a wall. The Prince was shaking so hard Virgil felt his shirt dancing like it had been caught in the wind. "Remus," Virgil cut him off. "Please." The delusional man turned his head to see the lump of frightened hero hidden away. 

"I won't eat  _ you,  _ Roman!" Remus exclaimed. Virgil huffed through his nose. Sometimes he really understood why Remus went into villainy. Dee wrapped a hand around his friend's arm and explained to him that he couldn't eat anyone. 

"What is our plan with Miniature Majesty?" Dee finally asked, turning toward Virgil with a curious look at The Prince. "We could make quite a bit of cash from this development." 

Virgil tensed. "We're going to fix it and then let him do whatever he wants." The other two villains looked less than impressed with his plan but didn't speak against it. "We're just not going to be villains for once."


End file.
